The management of TBD will be taken over by its corporate sibling, television station WJLA (ABC 7), the Washington Post reported today. Station Manager Bill Lord will now oversee TBD’s operations, according to the Post. WJLA.com, which has merely redirected to TBD.com for the past six months, will be run as a separate web site. No staffing changes are planned at TBD.
WJLA and TBD are both owned by Allbritton Communications and operated out of the Allbritton offices at 1100 Wilson Boulevard.
Comcast recently mailed informational material to customers regarding the changes, and earlier notified the county’s Cable Television Policy and Administration office of its plans.
Starting on or about March 3, Comcast will stop transmitting most basic cable channels in analog. Instead, anybody who currently watches cable TV without using a set-top box or a CableCARD device (like TiVo) will need to get a digital adapter to see the channels. Comcast is offering up to two digital adapters free of charge, with each additional adapter priced at $1.99 per month.
It’s easy to miss the unpretentious storefront of Margaret’s Soul Food and Catering Services, located at 2534 S. Shirlington Road in Arlington’s Green Valley (Nauck) neighborhood. But the down-home cooking inside the barred windows of the one-story brick building is worth the 10 minute walk from Shirlington.
The good news is that a new restaurant is apparently coming to Shirlington.
The bad news is that we’re pretty thin on details.
The brouhaha over the resignation of Williamsburg Middle School principal Kathy Francis continues.
Arlington Public Schools announced last night that it had approved the hiring of an outside legal counsel to defend the school system against review allegations made by Francis, who sent a lengthy resignation letter to parents last week. In the letter, Francis accused superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy of “discrimination” and harassment.
(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) Residents in some parts of Arlington woke up to the smell of sewer natural gas.
Many called the fire department to report the gas smell, which the county’s Department of Environmental Services says is an issue that Washington Gas is investigating.
Water Woes Continue in Ft. Myer Heights — Some Ft. Myer Heights residents were without water last night as crews worked to repair a persistent water main leak. Workers installed some temporary piping as they worked deep below the surface to repair the leak. [Ode Street Tribune]
Libraries Will Offer Self-Checkout — As part of a host of changes set to take place next week, Arlington Public Libraries will now be offering self-checkout at its Aurora Hills, Cherrydale, Columbia Pike and Glencarlyn branches. [Library Blog]
Arlington County announced tonight that it will be withdrawing its controversial lawsuit against the proposed High Occupancy Toll lane project on I-395. VDOT revealed last week that it’s no longer pursuing HOT lanes on the Arlington and Alexandria portions of I-395, at least partially due to Arlington’s suit.
The county issued the following press release about its decision to halt legal action against the HOT lanes plan.
Under the proposed budget, the real estate tax would remain steady at 95.8 cents per $100. The 95.8 cent rate was approved by the board last year after Donnellan, then the acting county manager, proposed a rate of 94.2 cents.
Arlington is benefiting from a 6.3 percent hike in assessed property values, which is expected to bring in an additional $30 million in tax revenue for the county. In September, when the county was expecting a smaller increase in assessments, then-County Manager Michael Brown warned that tax hikes and spending cuts might be necessary. Neither prediction is coming to fruition under the Donnellan’s proposed budget.
(Updated at 3:35 p.m.) For some reason, a number of highway and arterial road on-ramps in Arlington County seem to have been designed with little consideration to driver safety.
Whether they’re positioned just after a bend in the highway, obstructing the view of on-coming vehicles, or whether there’s precious little room for drivers entering the highway to get up to speed with on-coming traffic — or both — we’ve picked the following four on-ramps as the most dangerous in Arlington.
The legislation, proposed by Arlington’s Del. Patrick Hope (D), had the support of medical, civil rights and religious groups. It would have prevented the restraint of pregnant prisoners during labor and recovery, except in cases where jail administrators felt the prisoner posed a flight risk or a danger to herself or others.
There may be a silver lining for bill supporters, however.
The funds are intended to pay for basic street and park improvement projects, which are proposed by neighborhood groups. This year, most of the money is coming from a $9 million Neighborhood Conservation bond, approved by Arlington voters in November.
In December, the county’s Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee (NCAC) recommended seven projects for the first round of funding under the new bond, out of 33 proposals. The recommended neighborhood projects are listed below.
